Choppers aid in search for illegal marijuana

Increased law enforcement presence was the result of Operation HEMP, Michigan’s domestic marijuana eradication/suppression program

Karen Bota karen.bota@sentinel-standard.com

Residents across the county reported noticing a helicopter patrolling the skies this week, and a higher-than-usual number of Michigan State Police vehicles across the area. The increased presence of law enforcement was the result of Operation HEMP, Michigan’s domestic marijuana eradication/suppression program.HEMP stands for Help Eliminate Marijuana Planting. On Wednesday, officers were conducting a sweep of Ionia County in search of outdoor grow operations.Funded through a Drug Enforcement Administration grant, Operation HEMP is administered by the MSP, but it involves collaboration between state, county and local law enforcement agencies.Officers working with Operation HEMP work to arrest and prosecute individuals who grow, sell and deliver marijuana; and take both their plants and the proceeds from their illegal business. Cutting down on the availability of illegal marijuana also reduces criminal activity that comes along with marijuana growing, state police say. It also allows citizens to use the land in their community safely.Illicit growers often plant marijuana on public lands or on private farm land, fields or easements, not on their own property, said Lt. Brody Boucher, assistant post commander of the MSP Lakeview Post.“People don’t want to be responsible for it (when they are caught),” Boucher said.The practice is common in rural Michigan, which has become popular with illegal marijuana growers, because of the state’s fertile land and remote areas, according to the MSP. If a land owner notices suspicious activity, they are asked to report it to police right away. The HEMP Hotline is 1-800-235-HEMP.Marijuana is an annual plant that can grow from 2- to 20-feet high. Each main leaf has five to nine leaflets, each saw-toothed. The leaves’ upper surface is usually dark green, the under surface light green.“One of the bigger concerns we have is that these people are fearful the plants will be stolen, so sometimes the areas are booby-trapped with nails or fishing line with fish hooks,” and a citizen who unwittingly walks into that space could be injured.For more information, contact the MSP HEMP Unit at 517-336-6671, or call the HEMP Hotline at 1-800-235-HEMP.Follow Karen Bota on Twitter @KarenB_ISS.

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